u/Chemical-Field191

Getting back to the double-front clap push-ups for fast twitch musclar strength. I use this for my HIIT, 15 minutes every 12 days. Still working on the form.

When generative AI first arrived, I didn’t exactly see it as an ally. I was one of those professors who viewed it as potentially unethical and would dilute critical thinking. Thus, I spent a lot of time relying on AI detection tools, trying to police it and keep it out of my classrooms.

However, I recently shift my mindset, realizing I was defensive as well as experiencing negative transfer. That is, I was trying to apply old-school rules to a completely new playground.

To further breakout of this defensive mechanism, over the summer, I experimented with using Google Gemini AI as an eager research partner on a new research on late bloomers/adult adult prodigies.

Specifically, I wanted to share how I address AI as an overly polite, unexplainable research partner; and how I use techniques such as the pre-mortem analysis to keep my self honest on whether AI is replacing my original and creative ideas.

Source: "How to Turn AI from a Career Threat into a Creative Catalyst."

I started jazz drumming about 18 months ago. Because I feel like I'm making progress, I have stepped up my practice -- going hard on learning and watching videos of elite players. Now, it feels like perhaps I'm taking too much on with self-imposed goals. Of course, when I don't reach my goals, practice seems tiresome, etc.

The advice from online performance coaches are: set strict blocks of time, use smart, timed intervals to get more done in less time, etc.

Recently, I tried a different approach: focusing on "organic yield." That is, my playing should have a "winter" where there is no visible improvement though it will later follow by growth. Below is me practicing this organic approach by playing and listening to my internal feel or felt pulse, rather than explicitly trying use willpower to get to my goal quicker. Here, I'm practicing and comping 7 over 4 swing on the rider cymbals.

It's going well...but I won't say it is easier or better...since it resolve one issue (burnout) but not the other...

For sure, it’s easy to forget what it feels like to be a true beginner when you have some level of expertise.

I have been a higher-ed faculty for 20 years. But I still want to have that "hunger" for the next 20 years, as I need what I first started to teach, etc.

Thus, since December 2024, I intentionally chose to acquire a complex skillset completely outside my domain: jazz drumming. I have done cross-skilling within my domain, but this time it was really far from my skillsets. I have never played an instrument, but love jazz music since middle school. At the same time, I can see the transferrable skills of jazz drumming to teaching: improvisation, intentional multi-tasking, and be an anchor for musicians' ideas.

I wrote it up, as you can see. But really its about both everyday discipline and how to align with everyday routine that you normally would do. For example, in the morning, I normally would play about 30 minutes of Ruzzle to warm up my mind. I now replaced it with 40 minutes of sitting behind the drums to come up with new melodies to play. In terms of cross-skilling, I normally relied on PPT when I teach. I now completely teach without PPT to be more present and be able to pivot when needed.

If you have other tips on how to skill-up something new, share it!!

https://latele.substack.com/p/tuning-the-second-movement-how-jazz

Like many of you, I was glued to watching Belgium efficiently handled the USMN. It was a tough loss, but it also felt like a live-action case study for "specialists in transition," especially US goalkeeper, Matt Freese.

That is, in modern soccer, Freese is in the middle of the evolution of the goalkeeper-sweeper. He is actively doing the hard work to layer modern sweeper-keeper passing and spatial habits onto his game. But under the heavily World Cup pressure, his work on this dual role wasn't up to par. Yet such mistake will be part of his discipline to grow his game under the spotlight.

By contrast, Belgium's Thibaut Courtois is the "system orchestrator," who still finds the disciple to grow as a defense anchor and facilitator.

Both have lessons for us. If you're a Matt Freese:

• Don’t beat yourself up over mistakes that happen when you’re trying to grow. When a deep specialist decides to move forward, their early high-stakes attempts at a cross-discipline are going to face some friction. If you’re an adult learner, you have to accept this temporary performance dip as a necessary investment for long-term growth.

If you're a Thibaut Courtois:

• True expert generalists use their diverse skills to save their own mental bandwidth. They don’t just execute isolated tasks; they orchestrate the entire ecosystem around them. And best of all, they show us that the higher you build your skill stack, the more room you create to expand it even further.

Let me know you guys think. Am I off and/or overreaching?

Hi everyone,

I just started a substack on adult prodigies: https://latele.substack.com/.

In the coming weeks, I was thinking about putting together (fun) micro-learning lectures (how-to-videos) on meaningful training and toolsets to rapidly learn and master new complex skills. I also plan to do some live Q&As, etc.

Right now, my substack's notes are just informational. My articles are basically me sharing my experiences, although I'm not sure if readers really want that or not.

Thanks in advance!